Hackney Central is a station on the

Mildmay line The Mildmay line is the service operated by London Overground on the North London and West London railway lines. It passes through the inner suburbs of London, between Richmond and Clapham Junction in the south-west and Stratford in the east, ...

of the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

, located in the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

. It lies between and in

Travelcard Zone 2 Fare zone 2 is an inner zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. Bac ...

. The station and the trains serving it are operated by

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

. The station is connected to Hackney Downs station on the Weaver line of the Overground by a direct passenger walkway linking the two stations (replacing an earlier such link) that was opened in July 2015. This walkway means passengers do not have to exit on to the street in order to continue their onward journey and has eased congestion.

History

Early years

Hackney Central Railway Station - geograph

The

North London Railway The North London Railway (NLR) company had lines connecting the northern suburbs of London with the Port of London further east. The main east to west route is now part of London Overground's North London Line. Other NLR lines fell into disus ...

opened a station named ''Hackney'' on 26 September 1850, to the east of Mare Street, then in the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. It closed on 1 December 1870 and was replaced the same day by a station to the west of Mare Street, designed by Edwin Henry Horne and also named ''Hackney''. This station passed in due course to the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

and later on to the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

, which closed the entire North London line east of Dalston Junction to passenger traffic in 1944. Just to the west of the station a goods yard called Graham Road was opened by the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

in 1894. Located just west of the GER Hackney Downs railway viaduct the depot consisted of seven sidings dealing with coal and general goods. The land had originally been purchased for a rail link between the North London and Great Eastern Railways. Graham Road goods yard closed in October 1965. The site was finally used to link the North London and Great Eastern lines when in anticipation of the closure of Broad Street railway station in 1985 the "Graham Road Curve" was opened to traffic.

Reopening

On 12 May 1980, the station was reopened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

as part of the Crosstown Linkline service, this time named ''Hackney Central'', a little to the west of the 1870 station. The 1870 station building designed by Edwin Henry Horne is no longer in use by the railway, but is one of only two examples of

architecture still ''in situ'', the other being Camden Road station, which is still open. Access to the modern Hackney Central station is from an alleyway adjacent to the 1870 building on Mare Street, as well as a more direct access from Amhurst Road. The former station building is now a bar and music venue.

Line improvement

As part of the programme to introduce four-car trains on the London Overground network, the North London line between and closed in February 2010 to enable the installation of a new signalling system and the extension of platforms across the network. The line reopened on 1 June 2010, initially with a reduced service and none on Sundays. The full seven-day service resumed on 22 May 2011, with extra services running all day in place of the additional shuttle trains which had previously run between Camden Road and Stratford stations in the morning and evening peaks.

Opening of second entrance

A new entrance from the south in Graham Road with ticket office and footbridge was opened in 2022.

Services

Hackney Central railway station MMB 11 378005

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: *4 tph westbound to via , and *4 tph westbound to Clapham Junction *8 tph eastbound to

Future proposals

Crossrail 2

Hackney Central is a proposed stop on

Crossrail 2 Crossrail 2 is a suspended proposal for a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit route in South East England, running from nine stations in Surrey to three in Hertfordshire, providing a new North–South rail link across Greater London. It wou ...

. It would be between

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

and

Tottenham Hale Tottenham Hale is a district of north London and part of the London Borough of Haringey, bounded by the River Lea and located to the south/south-east of Tottenham proper. From 1850 to 1965, it was part of the Municipal Borough of Tottenham, in Mi ...

or Seven Sisters. The platforms would be underground, with a connection to the existing surface station.

Docklands Light Railway

In February 2006 the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...

(DLR)

Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europe ...

report, had suggested that the DLR be extended here from

Bow Church Bow Church is the parish church of St Mary and Holy Trinity, Stratford, Bow. It is located on a central reservation site in Bow Road (part of the A11), in Bow, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. There has been a church on the same site fo ...

via

Old Ford Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea. History Administration and boundaries Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and a mill, around ...

and

Homerton Homerton ( ) is an area in London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bordered to the west by Hackney Central, to the north by Lower Clapton, in the east by Hackney Wick, Leyton and by South Hackney to the south. In 2019, it had ...

, taking over the old parts of the North London line to link up Poplar and

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

. Docklands Light Railway Ltd. - DLR Horizon 2020 Study Business Case Appraisal
/ref> However, most of the former North London line between Hackney Wick and Bow Church has been built on. .

Connections

London Bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...

routes 30, 38, 55,

106 106 may refer to: * 106 (number), the number * AD 106, a year in the 2nd century AD * 106 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 106 (emergency telephone number), an Australian emergency number * 106 (MBTA bus), a route of the Massachusetts Bay Transpor ...

236 __NOTOC__ Year 236 ( CCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verus and Africanus (or, less frequently, year 989 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 23 ...

242 Year 242 (Roman numerals, CCXLII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratus and Lepidus (or, less frequently, year 995 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...

253 __NOTOC__ Year 253 ( CCLIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Volusianus and Claudius (or, less frequently, year 1006 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...

254 Year 254 ( CCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerianus and Gallienus (or, less frequently, year 1007 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 254 for th ...

, 276, 277,

394 __NOTOC__ Year 394 (CCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Western Europe as the Year of the Consulship of Flavianus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1147 ''Ab urbe condi ...

and W15 and night routes N38, N55, N242, N253 and N277 serve the station.

References

External links

Excel file displaying National Rail station usage information for 2005/06
{{Chelsea–Hackney line navbox Proposed Chelsea-Hackney Line stations Railway stations in the London Borough of Hackney Former North London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1850 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1870 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1870 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1944 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1980 Railway stations served by London Overground Hackney, London Hackney Central Mildmay line stations